Summer Workcamp - Westtown School

Quaker Leadership Program
mexico
Summer Workcamp
June 23 to June 30, 2015
program overview
The Mexico Summer Workcamp is an experiential,
bio-regionally based educational program focusing
on cloud forest conservation, sustainable development, and cultural exchange at Las Cañadas
in Huatusco, Mexico.
Up to twelve interested young adults will
have the opportunity to
work in an ecovillage
setting, enjoy the
beauty of the Mexican
cloud forest, develop
leadership skills and
forge enduring friendships as part of Westtown's 9th exchange
with Las Cañadas.
From June 23 to
June 30, 2015, work
campers enjoy a
unique opportunity to learn about the natural and
cultural history of the cloud forest, as well as contribute to exciting efforts to develop sustainable agriculture and forestry practices. Work campers will
discover what can be learned from direct experience
and living in community. Through small-group projects, ecological restoration work, meetings with experts, and interactive workshops, work campers
apply their diverse skills and observe how environmental stewardship and social and economic justice
work hand in hand. After work, work campers will
enjoy bonfires, night hikes, visits to local markets
and a closing sweat lodge.
Small-group projects address one or more of
these areas: reforestation, sustainable agriculture,
seed saving, building with earth and bamboo,
alternative technologies, and cultural exchange.
The group will be led by Alan Wright, Ph.D. who has
more than a decade of experience in environmental
education.
“Reducing negative human impacts on the earth’s
air, water and soils, and right sharing within the
human family and with all of God’s creatures have
become ecological necessities…We encourage all
Friends to pursue, with other faith communities,
ways of bearing witness to the ecological and
spiritual imperative that our society transform its
relationship with the Earth.”
— The Philadelphia Yearly Meeting minute on the
environment (January 1998)
eligibility and selection criteria
The program will include up to twelve participants.
A selection committee evaluates all applications,
some applicants are interviewed by phone or in
person. Upper-division high school students (juniors
and seniors), recent graduates, and undergraduate
students and adults are encouraged to apply.
• We look for work campers who are eager to learn
while working, able to take initiative, are open to
experimenting with new ideas, are interested in the
cultural aspects of environmental issues, and have
a sense of adventure. We seek work campers from
diverse geographic, ethnic, and other backgrounds.
• Work campers are not expected to speak Spanish
fluently. Translation will be provided.
• A valid passport
(necessary for visa
processing) is required by May 15 to
participate. The passport must be valid
until at least the end
of February 2016.
about las cañadas
accommodations
Participants will share a simple room in a sustainably built cottage. Showers are solar and wood
powered. Bathroom facilities are state of the art
composting toilets. There ia a lovely dining room
with a stunning view of the highest peak in Mexico.
Meals are vegetarian and largely organic. Days are
warm and evenings cool. Evening skies provide
spectacular views of the Milky Way.
Las Cañadas is a 756 acre land trust, home to one of
the few remaining cloud forests in the central zone
of Veracruz, Mexico. It has been designed with the
goal of modeling and sharing alternative methods of
food production, responsible travel and sustainable
living practices.
program costs
The program fee for participation in the program is
$850. This fee is the participant's total contribution
and includes program activities, local transportation,
food, translation, and accommodations. Participants
are responsible for the cost of round-trip internaWaterfalls and pools in the stream provide bathing
opportunities.
application
instructions
A completed application consists of the
application form and
one letter of recommendation. The application form, may be
submitted by e-mail
or by regular first-class mail. Applications are due by
January 30, 2015. Late applications will be considered as space allows.
tional airfare (which can range from $480 to $700).
Financial aid may be available on a limited basis.
There is a non-refundable $75.00 application fee.
The balance is due two months before the workcamp.
Health insurance that is valid in both the United
States and in Mexico is required.
for further information:
Please contact: Paula Kline
[email protected] or go to:
http://www.westtown.edu/page.cfm?p=1031
Mail your application form, a $75 non-refundable
deposit by check to Westtown School
Att:QLP 975 Westtown Rd.,Westtown, PA19382-5700
mexico summer workcamp